Sufferings, Apparently bitter but in reality blessings

Sufferings, the very basic nature of this material world: Practically everyone from a lowest level of living being up to mankind in this material world is suffering. This is the nature of this material world as declared by Lord Krishna in Bhagavad-Gita dukhalayam asasvatam (BG 8.15), that the nature of this world, when we are in ignorance of our true self, is suffering. It cannot be denied that there is no enjoyment in this material world, as ultimately everything is emanating from the Lord but every enjoyment within this material world is temporary, flickering & coupled with sufferings.

Nature of sufferings:

1. A question that arises before us, if God created this material world, why there is suffering? Is God is not a perfect creator? Answer to this question is, if God would have created this material world perfectly then no one will aspire and cultivate a desire of going back home back to Godhead, our permanent home, free from all tensions and miseries.

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It also brings a question in mind of some serious thinkers to make a further inquiry that there must be something beyond this defective material creation, where everything will be perfect and real. This fact is further corroborated by Lord Krishna in the next verse of Bhagavad-Gita.

3. Sufferings may be at different levels for every living entity. Someone may suffer too much and someone may not suffer much based on action and reaction pattern of previous lives. Externally we may perceive Oh such and such person is very rich, so he must not be suffering but there is a saying Grass is always greener on the other side. It may be that the person on the other side may be suffering more than what we are suffering. These different levels of sufferings also give us an opportunity to raise a quest to understand the action, reaction pattern of this material world i.e. theory of karma (as you sow, you shall reap). Newton’s third law of motion also states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

4. Root cause of sufferings within this material world is that we have forgotten our eternal relationship with God and suffering creates zeal to re-establish our relationship with God.

A devotee’s experience on sufferings:

1. Sufferings give us an opportunity to surrender to God: Just like a child suffers, he submit and cries before his parents and the child only needs them in such situation. Similarly, for a devotee, when he is in a miserable condition of life, he doesn’t have any choice left except to surrender to God. Lord Krishna declares the same in Bhagavad-Gita that four kinds of pious men render devotional service unto me and one of them is one who is distressed.

2. Sufferings cultivate detachment with this material world: We start losing taste for various sense gratifying objects with this material world, when we start realizing that this material world is hellish, nonsense and not a place to live.

3. Sufferings help in developing our attachment to render service to the Lord: Mind always needs some engagement to get attached to and when we cultivate our detachment with this material world by renouncing various sense gratifying objects, the mind gets attached to render continuous and uninterrupted service of the Lord.

4. Sufferings are meant to test: Tests are meant for our upliftment in any sphere of life, just like a child, when passes one class exams moves on to the next level and so on and so forth. Similarly, sufferings are the tests arranged by the Lord in a devotee’s life, so that he can gradually progress in the journey of spiritual life and achieve the purpose of this human form of life. But we are never alone in our tests and Lord gives us necessary strength and intelligence to pass the tests, provided we surrender in rendering service to the Lord.

5. Sufferings make us humble and down to earth: Sufferings also gives us an opportunity to realise that we are not the doer and there is someone beyond, who is controlling all of us. We keep Lord’s will on the top of our own will. We understand that this material nature is under the control of the Lord, which in turn makes us humble and down to earth.

Conclusion: As conditioned souls within this material world, people who are averse to God, lament and aggrieved when they suffer but devotees of the Lord who worship him with full faith and devotion take these sufferings as gifts of the Lord and they understand that these sufferings are temporary and external. Internally they remain very cheerful and they are so much occupied in rendering services to the Lord that they do not have time to even think about sufferings. From a spiritual perspective, it’s good that a person gets an opportunity to suffer within this material world, so that he can easily cut the binding ropes of this material world & cultivate a strong bonding attachment to render continuous and uninterrupted service at the lotus feet of the Lord and it’s a sum & substance of this human form of life.